


diametric gravitation

by neutralswag



Category: The Bold Type
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Eva is not toxic, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:40:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25344082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neutralswag/pseuds/neutralswag
Summary: Headcannon on what a less problematic Kat / Eva dynamic would look like.
Relationships: Kat Edison/Eva Rhodes
Comments: 22
Kudos: 63





	diametric gravitation

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. This is my first time ever writing a fan fiction. No beta, so please be kind in the comments. 
> 
> There's a long note at the end, but it’s just for this first chapter. I promise.

How did I get here?” Eva wonders.

Here being her bed, yes. But also here as in nose tucked into the collarbone of one warm, exhausted, and very naked Kat Edison.

Eva inhaled. Coconut. Cloves. Mmm, sleepy. And snuggled in deeper.

\--

_Several weeks earlier_

“And with that, Judge Adamson dismissed the case,” Eva smiled proudly.

As RJ laughed, Eva inwardly thrilled at her father’s reaction. He divorced her mother while Eva was still fairly young in order to move on to wife number three. While her father remained a presence in her life, they were not exactly “close”. And despite all her accomplishments and professional reputation as a no-nonsense force of nature, Eva still found herself preening every time she pleased her father.

“RJ!”

Startled, Eva pivoted toward the sound of the voice. She leaned back as she heard her father address this voice as, “Kat Edison.”

“Can we speak privately? Something’s come up at Scarlet Magazine that could use your attention.”

“Actually, no. I’m in the middle of something.”

“Well, it won’t take long,” said the other woman, who had arrived with Kat.

Eva’s eyes flickered appraisingly between the two. She noticed the cat t-shirt that “Kat” was wearing under a fashionable blazer styled coat. Kat’s companion looked just as tastefully attired in an artsy mélange of peacock blues, saffron golds, and burnt orange.

As she glanced back at Kat, the muscles around Eva’s eyes softened momentarily. Eyelashes for days framing warm brown eyes. Her cheeks reminded Eva of apples. And there was something about her calm, assured confidence that Eva found attractive. Not many people were comfortable addressing her father so directly.

“Whatever you need to say, you can say it here.”

Perceiving the attention shifting to her, Eva schooled her face in her best lawyerly neutrality offering a small, composed (and she hoped friendly) smile to continue.

“Okay,” Kat seemed to shrug. “RJ, we know that you’re the one who blocked our piece on conversion therapy. And we know you did it to protect Senator Jackson of Alabama.”

Eva felt her stomach drop as she turned to look at her father. Was this true?

“Supporting a man who tells kids like Travis to change who they are is wrong and you know it,” the other woman interjected with heartache in her voice.

“You know what’s wrong? The two of you barging in on my lunch.”

“We also know you donated to a PAC supporting the Senator.”

“And it’s not going to look very good for you when the public finds out.”

“And you know this, how?”

Eva’s mind raced to integrate this new information. Realizing she needed to stop this exchange before it spiraled further, she burst in. “Do not say another word.”

Turning back, Eva fixed a stern gaze onto Kat’s eyes. “If you continue to threaten my father, you won’t only be fired from Scarlet, you’ll never work in publishing again. And,” glancing to the left, “my law firm will sue you both.”

Seeing that her message had its intended effect and that further rash action was not imminent, Eva leaned back in her chair. “We’re done here. You can leave.”

Eva continued to stare as the pair walked away. She noticed Kat offering a soft touch to the elbow of (she thought she heard Kat call her) Adena. Hmm, a fairly intimate gesture. Interesting.

“Well, that’s a dollar well-spent on an Ivy League education,” she heard RJ smugly announce.

This shook Eva out of her reverie as she turned to her father with a furrowed brow.

“They’re telling the truth, aren’t they?” Eva’s eyes narrowed. “You really did donate to Senator Jackson even after everything he’s done. Even when in fact, if you’re being honest with yourself, you and I both know that conversion therapy is not only unscientific. It’s immoral.”

Her father’s eyes hardened. “What’s gotten into you? Of course, I’m supporting the Senator. In that nutwing liberal Congress of ours, we need all the allies we can get. Senator Jackson not only offered to sponsor the bill we need to grow Safford, but he will help us push it through the Commerce Committee and finally get this bill onto the floor for a vote.” He shook his head, “it’s just business, Eva. Grow up.”

Eva took a deep breath as she rose from her seat. “Of course. You’re right. It’s just business.” As she gathered her attaché case, Eva discretely balled one of her hands into a fist. “If you’ll excuse me. I’m afraid that interruption cost us the rest of our lunch, and I’m due in court soon.”

She offered her father a tight smile, though it did not extend to her eyes. Still, it seemed acceptable enough because he only nodded curtly before turning to check his phone.

Once outside, Eva let out an exasperated huff before stilling her face once more to walk back to her office. Calm. Collected. She allowed herself one last soft sigh. She respected her father tremendously for all his success in growing Safford’s media empire. And while they saw eye to eye on most things, he could be absolutely ruthless when it came to protecting his business. That often led to him taking… disappointing actions.

Eva’s thoughts strolled back to the exchange with Kat and Adena. Unprofessional and foolhardy to approach the CEO of any company with an accusation like that let alone at Safford. A rueful smile played across her lips. Yet, there was something courageous in the way Kat advocated with such a fierce passion. Cheeks like apples. She frowned. No, no, unprofessional. Foolish. She hoped they wouldn’t do anything foolish.

The next evening just as she finally returned home from a late night at the law firm, Eva’s phone began vibrating furiously. Glancing down at the screen as she dropped her attaché case on the floor, she froze and stared wide-eyed at the flurry of messages flooding her notifications.

The Safford Board of Directors will convene a conference call early tomorrow morning to discuss the public release of RJ Safford’s tax returns. She fired off a few messages before rubbing her temples and heading to the shower.

Unprofessional. Foolish.

Tomorrow will be a long day. She might as well rest while she can.

“Eva.”

“Father.”

“What was it you wanted to talk about?”

Eva heard the tired sigh in his voice. She imagined his slumped shoulders and blank eyes staring at nothingness. Shaking off her own fatigue, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for this man. This fallen titan. All her life, she had only known him to have two identities – one, the proud Chairman and CEO of Safford Publications, and two, her available though often emotionally distant father.

“I’m sorry the Board chose to have you step down. But,” deep breath, “I’m actually calling to talk about Kat Edison.”

“What about her? She’s already being fired. You voted with the rest of the Board for that. Unless you’re offering the services of your law firm to go after her and that radical friend of hers.”

Eva cringed. “The opposite actually. Yes, I did vote to fire Kat. Her actions were brash and completely irresponsible, given her role at Safford. But, I advise you NOT to take any further action, including suing either of them.”

“WHAT??” Her father’s voice was apoplectic.

“Look. I know what I said yesterday. But, think about it.” Switching into her most soothing, rational voice, Eva continued. “With the media firestorm of attention right now, do you really want to be seen as an oppressive bully to these two young women? Even if you’re no longer the titular head of Safford, your actions still very much reflect on the business and the brand. Suing them is just going to make damage control more difficult than it already is.”

Hearing silence on the other line, Eva rushed on, “just think about it, okay? I’ll meet you at your office later. And if you like, we can walk out together.”

“Okay.” Sullen silence.

“Okay. See you later.”

Ascending familiar stairs into the Safford lobby, Eva’s thoughts wandered. Her advice to her father was entirely about protecting him and protecting Safford. Yes, that’s it. She is not one to offer shelter to defiant radicals. Even if she begrudgingly, privately agreed with them.

As she reached the top, her gaze immediately zeroes in on the figure walking toward her in the opposite direction.

Unprofessional. Foolish.

Judging by Kat’s slow exit this early in the day, no doubt she has just been let go.

Cheeks like apples.

Good. That’s justice served.

Handsome eyebrows quirk before dropping with downcast eyes. Small frown forming on plum stained lips. Breezing past the scent of clean soap and cocoa butter with notes of spicy florals.

Eva feels her head turning of its own accord to gaze a little longer at the tall, elegant form. Contemplative cyanic eyes briefly lock with glistening soulful brown ones.

Feeling an unsettling concern bubble up in her chest, Eva shifts her focus to the ground.

This Kat Edison is clearly talented and media savvy. Without a doubt, she will land on her feet. And right now, Eva needs to summon all her emotional resources to meet with her father. She doesn’t have time for thoughts of impetuous provocateurs. Even radiantly enigmatic beautiful ones.

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this after S4E12. Reading Aisha Dee’s Instagram the other day, I felt immensely conflicted and almost did not want to post. And watching the season finale was an emotional rollercoaster. It’s a tribute to the skill of both actresses who brought such seductive chemistry throughout this arc, while also preserving the genuine confusion I believe their characters would have felt, especially Kat.
> 
> Ultimately, I decided to post here on AO3 not writing from Kat’s perspective but Eva’s. I feel like Eva’s character needed more dimension to understand as a viewer why Kat would be attracted to her in a way that is consistent with Kat’s own character development. I know with budgetary & time constraints (not to mention a global pandemic), what is often difficult to fully explore on television is better suited to a medium like this.
> 
> Another reason I chose to write from Eva’s perspective is that while I am a queer POC cis woman who has only ever voted Democrat (and the Green party once), I do not feel I can adequately capture the perspective of a queer BIPOC. Intersectionality exists. There are real life differences in the experiences of BIPOC vs POC. It felt relatively more authentic to code switch into Eva’s voice.
> 
> To be clear, this is not a “redemption story” for Eva. I’ll probably make some slight adjustments to Eva’s politics to make her character more intellectually honest though still a conservative. She will never be a Bernie Bro, and I don’t think she needs to be for Kat to feel attracted. In my view, Eva is a small “c” conservative idealist, not a cynical ideologue. More in the mold of a Steve Schmidt than a Stephen Miller, a Buckley not a Bannon.
> 
> For instance, I think Eva off-camera defending “hard line immigration” was inserted for dramatic tension without much thought to the character implications. Eva believes in the righteous rule of law. As such, while she would advocate for a legal brightline, she would view putting children in cages as a crime against humanity and morally repugnant.
> 
> Also, while the writers could not have known it at the time, the fact that Eva “clerked for Judge Gorsuch” is of note. While I still vehemently disagree with his appointment (Merrick Garland was robbed), I have to give Judge Gorsuch credit for staying true to his judicial paradigm. He voted with the majority to uphold employment protections for LGBTQ. He was the deciding vote in the Oklahoma indigenous rights case and chose to respect the law as written and honor promises broken and too long ignored.
> 
> I sincerely hope that if the Bold Type gets renewed for S5, they keep Eva’s character and further explore her and Kat because ironically, that’s probably their best opportunity to redress some of this season's mistakes (e.g. Kat going to the Republican mixer to “prove” herself to Eva. Yuck).
> 
> Kat should not be attracted to Eva because “hey, right wing Republicans are people too!” and Alex Paxton-Beesley plays one foxy lawyer. She should be attracted to Eva because Eva can help her grow. We’ve seen four seasons of Kat exploring her sexuality and Blackness. This has been gratifying to watch and needs to be shown more often on television. But career wise, the whole thing with RJ’s tax returns felt like a throw back to the Kat of S1. Still fighting totally virtuously for justice and change, but done in such a way that the inevitable consequences threaten to overshadow the point. Advising from the side, Eva can help Kat grow her skills of persuasion. A more adroit Kat is ultimately a more effective Kat. We don’t need manufactured drama. We need to see Kat grow into the media maven and powerful progressive presence we know she can be.
> 
> Also, I feel like there’s an opportunity here with Eva’s character to watch a queer but straight passing, white, upper class woman reckon with her privilege and become a better ally. To be sure, Eva definitely needs to be the one to do the work, not Kat. The showrunners can help this story feel more authentic by responding to the moment and Aisha Dee’s challenge. Hire and genuinely listen to writers & directors with queer BIPOC experience. By the same token, there are many women like Eva around the country right now who are, perhaps for the first time in their lives, confronting the realities of racism and their own conscience. To have a character like Eva (and an actress like Paxton-Beesley) who can give voice to that process seems like a rare opportunity to show a raw, probably messy yet hopefully open-hearted path forward.
> 
> To be honest, I'm still examining my own thoughts and feelings around this subject. So if any beats feel off, that is the fault of this writer’s poor skill, not intent. I’m open to constructive dialogue.
> 
> And if you’re still with me, there will be smut. Eventually. Because honestly, the fire of those two.
> 
> Hope to see you in the comments.


End file.
